


Very Good Bad Thing

by madlysanecatlady



Series: 100 Gladnis Prompts [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Blizzards and flurries and snowstorms oh my, Cute, Gladnis, I can probably do better but it's late ok, M/M, Mutual Pining, prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 03:14:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13425561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madlysanecatlady/pseuds/madlysanecatlady
Summary: Gladio gets trapped in Ignis' house by a freak blizzard and they're forced to address the garula in the room.





	Very Good Bad Thing

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the [ 100 Gladnis Prompts](https://ivyscientia.tumblr.com/post/170187944422/100-gladnis-prompts)
> 
> **Prompt #2**  
>  _Brotherhood. Insomnia in winter. Scenario: A freak blizzard leaves Gladio stranded at Ignis' apartment. Or vice versa. They have been tiptoeing around feelings for one another. What happens?_

This was bad. Horribly, horribly _bad._ Gladio hadn’t paid the slightest bit of attention to what Ignis had been saying, he had been far too distracted by the way his hair looked every time Ignis ran a harried hand through it or the way the light from over head danced in emerald eyes from behind his glasses. Gladio had _no_ idea what he had asked, but now Ignis was looking at him expectantly and he had no idea how to respond in a way that didn’t reveal his distraction. This was very bad.

‘Are you feeling alright?’ Ignis wondered, reaching out to feel his forehead for fever. ‘You’re quite flushed.’

Gladio shrugged. ‘Tired. What were saying before that?’

‘I asked if you wanted to finish up for the day. You didn't seem to be really paying attention to the forms, just starting blankly at nothing.’

 _Not nothing_ , Gladio sighed inwardly. _Just the most perfect person in the world._ The staring had gotten more frequent lately, but Gladio knew it had been going on for a while now. And he also knew he want the only one. He'd caught Ignis, on more than one occasion, starting blankly in _his_ direction. There was a heaviness between, an unspoken _something_ hanging in the air whenever they were alone. It terrified him. Not because he didn’t know what it was, he had a fairly good idea, but because he had no idea what it would mean for their friendship or their duties. Would it become awkward? Would they find themselves caught in having to choose between each other and their duty to the crown? Would they be forbidden from being together should one of their superiors find out? And how would Noctis feel about his two closest retainers falling for each other? There were so many unknowns, it left Gladio’s head spinning; he could only imagine what it was like for a strategist like Ignis, who prided himself in knowing all the details.

Gladio stood up and stretched, feeling and hearing his back crack into place after so long slouching over the veritable avalanche of paperwork he and Ignis were doing. He glanced out the window and froze. ‘Shiva’s tits.’

‘ _Gladio_ ,’ Ignis admonished the much-hated derogatory exclamation before following Gladio’s gaze to the window. ‘Oh, _goodness_.’

Snow had piled up rather high on the sill, obscuring the bottom half of the window, the wind buffeting the top half with even more heavy snow. It _never_ snowed in Insomnia, at least not like this. They would get the occasional flurry, yes, particularly on those very cold winter days, but the amount of fallen snow Insomnia had historically ever seen was at _most_ , five centimetres deep.

‘The roads are probably shit,’ Gladio groaned. ‘It’s going to take so long to get home.’

‘Gladio, there’s no way you’re going out in that,’ Ignis protested. ‘You’ll get yourself _killed_. You’re obviously staying here tonight.’

Gladio knew Ignis was right. There was probably no way he could get his car even started in this weather, let alone _see_ the road, provided he could even keep the car _on_ it. But Gladio didn’t have to think it was a _good_ thing. With things so weird between them lately, time trapped together was probably the last thing they needed.

‘Don’t worry, we can still call it a night on the paperwork,’ Ignis chuckled, rounding up the papers that had scattered across the table in Ignis’ rather large kitchen. Gladio remembered when Ignis had purchased the townhouse near the Citadel a year ago; the kitchen had been _tiny_ , and Gladio had no idea how Ignis would ever survive in it. But then he’d seen the plans Ignis was drawing up. Of _course_ Gladio had offered to help with the renovations. Now, he almost regretted it, as this was when things had begun to get weird between them. It had started with longer than normal glances, out-of-the-blue lingering touches, awkward silences, and an odd tension in the air between them.

The tension returned full force as the weight of their evening trapped in Ignis’ house together settled upon them. Gladio sighed. ‘Want to watch a movie or something?’

‘Sure,’ Ignis inclined his head. ‘I’ll make us some snacks. I’ve got some sweet wine in the fridge, too, if you’d like. I have a feeling we won’t be requested at the Citadel in the morning…’

‘It’s like you’re clairvoyant,’ Gladio looked down at the alert he’d just received on his mobile. ‘Here it is, official message from Cor _and_ unofficial one from my dad. _Stay at Ignis’, be safe. Citadel closed till roads cleared. Love you._ And then the one from my dad.’

Ignis laughed and pulled out the wine, opening the cupboard to study the wine glasses stored there. He jumped when he felt Gladio come up so close behind him, turning to whack him gently in the chest. ‘You’re going to reduce me to heart failure.’

‘Sorry Iggy,’ Gladio ruffled his hair, messing up its careful placement. ‘Shiva’s tits, Iggy, how many wine glasses do you own?’

Ignis pulled out a pair of glasses and rolled his eyes. ‘ _Please_ stop referring the Glacian in such a disrespectful manner. I can’t imagine she’d be very pleased with you.’

‘Why? You going to tell her?’ Gladio teased, going silent as he realised that came out rather more flirtatiously than intended.

‘I might yet if you can’t behave yourself,’ Ignis flirted back, drawing a pink shine to Gladio’s cheeks. ‘So cookies? Tarts? Popped corn?’

‘What do you feel like?’ Gladio grabbed a knife and started trying to work the cork out of the wine bottle. ‘I’m good with whatever.’

‘Gladio, there’s a corkscrew in that same drawer you took the knife from,’ Ignis huffed, getting out a large mixing bowl and the ingredients for quick and simple cookies.

‘Yeah, but this is how the pros do it,’ Gladio grinned, pulling the cork out with a loud, squeaking sound. ‘Ahh, listen to that.’

‘Unbelievable,’ Ignis tutted, expertly mixing in the ingredients, no measuring or recipe at all to be seen. Gladio watched him closely. He loved watching Ignis cook. Not only was the general skill and confidence incredible, it also afforded him the opportunity to stare at him, admire him, without any awkwardness.

‘What kind we eating?’ Gladio reached for the bowl, only to get his knuckles whacked with the back of a spoon. ‘Aww c’mon Iggy.’

‘You can wait until I’m at least finished the batter,’ Ignis snickered. ‘Patience is my virtue of choice, you know. Practise makes perfect.’

Gladio really didn’t know what to make of what was happening here. Things had been awkward hadn’t they? Yet somehow Ignis was standing there _flirting_ with him? Had he missed something?

‘Don’t sulk; here,’ Ignis fetched a second spoon and held out a bit of dough for him to taste. He smiled when Gladio tried it, humming in delight as he tasted. ‘Good?’

‘You know it’s good,’ Gladio stuck out his tongue. ‘I don’t know how you do it. You’re just some sort of culinary magician.’

‘Yeah, I am,’ Ignis winked and started portioning out the dough into little balls on a baking tray. He looked up. ‘Do you want to go pick a movie or whatnot?’

‘Naw, I wanna watch your expert ball handling,’ Gladio said, going beet red as he realised what he’d just said.

‘Goodness,’ Ignis ducked his head, laughing violently. ‘Gladio… that was. Oh my goodness.’

‘Sorry, that just came out,’ Gladio laughed, happy Ignis had at least found it funny. He poured the wine and handed a glass over to Ignis before gulping down a huge sip of his own. If he was going to be making those kind of slip-ups sober, he might as well get a buzz on to take the edge off.

Ignis popped the pan into the oven and turned to Gladio. ‘So, anything else on your mind, other than my expert handling of balls? You’re awfully quiet today, even more than usual lately.’

Gladio frowned. He should have expected that question, really. Ignis was sharp-eyed and intelligent, obviously he would see if something was on Gladio’s mind. He racked his brain furiously to something to derail the conversation, but found his brain to be quite uncooperative as Ignis stepped closer.

‘Hey, talk to me Gladio,’ Ignis reached up to pull at Gladio’s chin, forcing him to look at him.

‘Just tired, stressed, you know how it is,’ Gladio shrugged.

Ignis didn’t look like he believed him, but allowed it, turning away to go check on the cookies. ‘Go find a movie, ok? These’ll be ready in a few minutes. Bring the wine. We might as well have some fun while we don’t have to work tomorrow, right?’

Gladio nodded and did as he was told, already knowing which movie he was going to pick. It was a political comedy that Gladio like enough, but he knew it was Ignis’ absolute favourite movie of all time. He put the wine down on the coffee table and popped in the disc as the smell of cookies began to permeate the room. He sat down and waited.

Ignis entered about three minutes later with a plate piled high with steaming cookies. He put the cookies and his mostly empty wine glass down next to the bottle on the coffee table and flopped down next to Gladio, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He looked up and smiled. ‘You trying to soften me up or something? It’s always my favourites that you pick. I’m starting to get suspicious.’

Gladio snorted and leaned over to grab a cookie. He popped it into his mouth, ignoring the burning on his tongue in favour of its taste. ‘Holy shit, that’s amazing.’

‘Don’t burn yourself,’ Ignis chuckled. ‘Oh but too late, I guess,’ he reached up and tapped a reddened lip. He paused at the sharp intake of breath from Gladio. He frowned. ‘Did that hurt?’

‘No, it’s fine,’ Gladio shook his head quickly. Ignis was still so very close to him, almost pressed against his hip as he tucked his feet underneath himself. He felt his heart beginning to race and took in a slow breath, hoping to calm himself down. He heard Ignis sigh beside him and looked down to find him looking at him closely.

‘Gladio,’ he paused, appearing to think about his words carefully. ‘When are we going to address the garula in the room?’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘ _This_ ,’ Ignis gestured between them. ‘There’s _something_ there, isn’t there? And you don’t seem to want to talk about it, but I know it’s what you’re thinking about.’

Gladio sighed. ‘I don’t know, Iggy. It’s… it’s been there a while.’

‘Since the kitchen,’ Ignis nodded. ‘But it’s getting stronger, isn’t it? And you’re retreating into yourself. I don’t like that. So _talk_ to me. Why are we avoiding this?’

‘Because we _can’t_. We’re both retainers to Noct. Our job is to work together, not fall in love with other. It’ll never be allowed.’

Ignis went silent for a moment, mulling Gladio’s words over, before moving rather abruptly to pull Gladio’s face towards him and crush their lips together. Gladio felt any sort of misgivings he might have had simply melt away at the first touch of their lips. He suddenly didn’t care about what anyone at the Citadel might think. He didn’t care if this would affect his or Ignis’ jobs. He didn’t care about anything except making sure Ignis kept kissing him.

‘Do you _really_ think Noct would forbid us from dating?’ Ignis asked, pulling away. ‘Do you _know_ how many times he’s asked me when we’re going to stop tiptoeing around each other and just shag already? It was starting to get embarrassing.’ His expression softened. ‘But it’s more than that. You said it yourself: _falling in love_.’

‘Well, I think I fell already,’ Gladio shrugged. ‘The cooking alone.’

‘So shallow,’ Ignis teased, leaning his head on Gladio’s shoulder. ‘But don’t worry, Gladio. I have the utmost faith in us both to continue being professional, or well, as professional as _you’re_ capable of being. I don’t see how anyone can complain.’

‘Not even my dad? Or Cor? You know, the crowned kings of utmost propriety and professionalism?’ Gladio frowned.

‘I somehow think the Marshal would be fine provided we don’t allow it to interfere with our duties,’ Ignis shrugged. ‘And I can’t speak to your father as well as you, but wouldn’t he be pleased that you’re happy?’

Gladio shrugged noncommittally. Sometimes, his father surprised him and did the complete opposite of what he was expecting. And then sometimes he did exactly as expected, all duty, no compassion. He wondered which it would be in this particular scenario. ‘Let’s not tell them just yet.’

‘Yes, because that’s at the forefront of my mind right now,’ Ignis rolled his eyes. ‘I’ve _finally_ plucked up the courage to kiss you and now I’m just _itching_ to go out and inform the Marshal and your father.’

‘What _is_ on your mind?’

‘Doing it again,’ Ignis leaned forward to press their lips together again.

Gladio forgot the outside world again, thinking only of the man pressed against him, kissing him in a way that left him melting into the sofa. He pulled Ignis closer to him, silently thanking the freak blizzard that had made all this possible. Clearly the Glacian didn’t object _so_ much to Gladio’s constant allusion to her figure if she was rewarding him so. Gladio had never thought he’d be so happy to see Ignis be wrong.


End file.
